Many container and closure combinations are used to package, store, and ship a variety of commercial products, including foods and medicines. In the packaging of such products, it has become common practice to include some signal to indicate whether the closure has been opened or unsealed, providing a warning that the contents may have been tampered with or damaged by exposure to the environment outside the container.
Tamper-evident assemblies help manufacturers, merchants, and consumers to easily identify compromised containers. They enable consumers to avoid products that may have been exposed to the environment, tampered with, or otherwise compromised. Those skilled in the art will understand that such container and closure combinations are made with containers of various sizes with openings of various sizes and shapes and with closures of various sizes and shapes, depending on the type of product packaged within.
A common example of a container and closure combination includes a container having a circular opening and a peripheral collar, along with a closure having a circular top and skirt. A typical container and closure combination may have a tamper-evident assembly incorporated as a part of the container, the closure, or both. There is a need for a tamper-evident assembly that can be manufactured independently of such containers and closures, and without requiring modifications to either the container or the closure. There is also a need for tamper-evident band assemblies for use with container and closure combinations that have already been designed or manufactured without a system to indicate tampering.
There is also a need for tamper-evident assemblies that do not fail when exposed to the stresses placed on them when the containers are opened. If the applied stresses cause a tamper-evident assembly to stretch or otherwise deform, the tamper-evident assembly may slip over the peripheral collar of the container when the closure is removed. In this case, the closure may be re-closed and subsequent handlers of the container will remain ignorant that the container has compromised. For the consumer, even a single failure of this type may have dangerous, even deadly, consequences.
There is also a need for indicators of tampering that are readily apparent to casual view. Some tamper-evident indicators are visible only when the closure is removed. While a consumer may be warned of compromised products, the warning may be received too late for the consumer to select an uncompromised container. Some tamper-evident band assemblies rely on relatively subtle changes in configuration to signal tampering, changes may be easy to overlook. There is a need for a tamper-evident assembly that provides clear visual signals to indicate tampering.
Tamper-evident band assemblies are ineffective if they have even a low failure rate, either because the assembly fails to work or because individuals fail to recognize the indication that the container has been opened. Therefore, there is a need to develop a tamper-evident band assembly that addresses the shortcomings of present constructions that indicate tampering in container and closure combinations.